STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Cathy Terlesky lost a lot of food during Hurricane Sandy. So the 69-year-old Oakwood resident was happy when she got a phone call telling her she had become the latest $1,000 gift card winner of the ShopRite Grocery Giveaway Contest.

"It's hard to believe, I never win anything," Mrs. Terlesky told the Advance of her new-found luck.

Mrs. Terlesky received the gift cards Wednesday at the ShopRite supermarket in New Dorp from Kevin Mannix, owner of the family-run Mannix Family Supermarkets, which operates both the New Dorp and Graniteville ShopRite stores.

Contestants had to call the toll-free hotline to be entered for a chance to win prizes totaling $2,000 in the contest.

The contest was sponsored by the Staten Island Advance in partnership with ShopRite.

"We had over 4,000 Staten Island residents call the toll-free hotline to enter," he added. "We partner with ShopRite three or four times a year and we are always happy with the results and giving the gift cards to the lucky winners."

Mrs. Terlesky said she had entered the contest in the past and had never won.

"I figured I had no chance. I was hoping even getting $100 would be nice, but when they called and said I was the grand prize winner, I couldn't believe it," she said.

Mrs. Terlesky admits that the damage she suffered from the hurricane compared to some others was minimal, but she didn't come away completely unscat "The power was out for two weeks and we didn't have hot water for three weeks; it wasn't pleasant," she said.

Mrs. Terlesky said the gift cards will be a big help especially with the Christmas and New Year's holidays right around the corner. She said the cards will afford her the ability to purchase the seafood necessary for her popular holiday dish, as well as her beloved lasagna.

Mrs. Terlesky is a retired department manager who spent 17 years working at the Kmart in New Dorp; prior to that, she was a stay-at-home mom raising three children.

She said she and her husband Phil were recently highlighted in the Advance for their 50th wedding anniversary and figures people will "get tired of seeing them in the paper" now that she will appear again as a contest winner.

She added the couple will enjoy spending time at the store shopping together. "He comes shopping with me; he doesn't mind," Mrs. Terlesky said.